Markmi

Markmi provides an AI-powered markdown assistant specifically for the fashion retail industry. The Ghent, Belgium-based company targets merchandising teams, aiming to replace outdated spreadsheets and intuition-based pricing with data-driven decision-making. Revenue is likely generated through a subscription-based model for access to its AI platform. The business serves prominent fashion retailers such as C&A, G-Star, Zizzi, ZEB, and Torfs.

The company was founded by CEO Laurent Mainil, whose family has deep roots in the Belgian fashion industry. This background provided him with firsthand insight into the industry's challenges. Markmi originated from Crunch Analytics, where Mainil and his team assisted fashion retailers in managing unsold inventory and protecting margins during the COVID-19 pandemic. This experience highlighted the technological gap in markdown management, leading to Markmi spinning off as a separate entity to focus on this niche. In April 2025, the company announced it had raised €1.1 million in a seed funding round to fuel its expansion into the Netherlands, the Nordics, and the U.S. The funding round included a mix of investors from both the fashion and technology sectors.

Markmi's core product is an AI assistant that analyzes vast amounts of fashion-specific data to provide optimal markdown recommendations. The platform's algorithms run millions of calculations and scenarios to forecast the impact of different discount levels on revenue, margins, and inventory sell-through. This enables merchandising teams to simulate and test various strategies before implementation. For example, the tool performed 14.5 million calculations for G-Star EU's inventory over five days, allowing the team to select the most profitable strategy. Clients have reported revenue growth of 5–10% and margin improvements of 2–5% during markdown periods. The company plans to evolve its product from a markdown assistant into a comprehensive AI pricing platform that will include capabilities for full-price optimization and promotional planning.

Keywords: fashion retail, AI pricing, markdown optimization, merchandising tools, retail technology, inventory management, price optimization software, fashion analytics, data-driven retail, margin improvement, promotional planning, retail AI, SaaS, Laurent Mainil, C&A, G-Star, Zizzi, ZEB, Torfs, Crunch Analytics